All Tied Up
by Sanru
Summary: As his weary eyes played over the walls of the room, dread began to grow in his stomach. He knew where he was now and most likely what had happened. He was in trouble and the sooner he escaped the better.


_Dedicated to _Quoth the Raven _because she needed a little something to know that her writing skills are very much appreciated._

Disclaimer: Don't own, wish I did yadda yadda yadda…

All Tied Up

His eyes fluttered open weakly as he tried to sort out what had happened. His thoughts were jumbled and disjointed. There were gaps in his memory that made his predicament all the more confusing. His muscles were sore and seemed to ache with the very though of movement. His throat was dry and raspy but trying to swallowing only seemed to make his throat clog and stick together resulting in harsh, deep coughs that rattled his entire body. He moaned weakly as the coughing finally slowed and he was left wheezing and breathless.

Donatello blinked blurry eyes at the stone wall in front of him. Where was he? What had happened? He felt awful, like he had been given too much of a drug or been given an oral tranquilizer on an empty stomach. Just the thought of the drugs made his stomach twist unpleasantly and he found himself swallowing the bile that rose in his throat. Don had no idea of where he was or even what had happened but he had already found himself regretting doing whatever to be caught in such a way.

And such a way it was.

As far as he could tell he was laying face down on a mattress with his head slightly elevated with a rather thin pillow. Despite the thinness of the pillow it was comfortable, keeping his head and neck at such an angle that it seemed to make breathing easier. A thin sheet seemed to cover his body which seemed slightly damp from sweat. It was only than that Don realized that he was hotter than he should be. The brainy turtle licked his dry lips weakly as he began to rally his strength to get free of his imprisonment. He was definitely not in a good position right now. What made his position even worst –other than the fact he didn't think he had the strength to walk more than three steps max- was the thick yet silk like cord that tied him rather firmly to the bed.

They looped over the back of his hands before laying along the inside of his arm to another loop around his elbow. The ropes were then weaved back up their respective arm, wrapping around his skin and around the rope that was acting as the anchor on the sides. When the rope reached his wrists it looped around once more before trailing across the mattress and under the headboard from where it came from. It was obvious that the knots for the ropes were somewhere behind the headboard, most likely attached to something that would be too heavy for him to lift or move in his exhausted state. A gentle pull on his legs revealed that they were similarly tied in the lavish ropes. Someone had gone through a great deal of time to make sure he was well restrained yet reasonably comfortable in this position. His captor had even given the ropes some slack so that he had enough to prop himself up with yet not enough for him to reach for the knots.

He had to get out of there. There had to be a way. The wall before him offered him no clue has to a means to escape so with what felt like more effort than it actually was, Donatello turned his head and look out at the rest of the room. As his weary eyes played over the walls of the room, dread began to grow in his stomach. He knew where he was now and most likely what had happened. He was in trouble and the sooner he escaped the better.

As his eyes played on the room they came to rest on a figure sitting still as death on the other side of the room. Don's eyes widened. He was in the worst predicament possible in his given situation. With his captor sitting on the opposite side of the room it would be difficult to escape unnoticed. Don's eyes narrowed as his memory began to return piece by piece. **He** was the one who had brought him here and tied him up despite his protest and weak attempts at fighting back. **He** was the one who made Don take the drugs that made him feel weaker and sleeper than he already was. **He** was the one who told him to sleep and rest despite Don's attempt not to.

Determined to get away, Donatello looked back at the ropes binding him to the bed. They weren't that tight. There was a possibility that if he was able to gain enough leverage at the right angle, he could slip at least one arm free. From there it would be a simple matter of unwrapping his other arm and both his legs and he would be free to escape from that room. As he began to lift himself up on trembling arms, a voice rang out sternly but with force hidden in its gentle words.

"Don't even think about it, Don."

Donatello winced and turned bright fevered eyes on his brother as Leo slowly stood from where he had been deep in meditation only moments before. Don couldn't understand how his older brother could just snap in and out of meditation as if he was blinking his eyes. Every time he tried to do that, Don found himself suffering with a migraine for the rest of the day. Still as his brother came over and picked a washcloth from the bowl resting on the table next to the bed, Donatello could not help but voice his utter contempt towards his brother at that very moment.

"I hate you."

Leonardo couldn't help but smile sadly at the weak words that escaped his brother's lips. As sick as he was, Donatello was able to pull off a very good sad puppy eye face thanks to the watery eyes he was suffering from. The voice, however, was so weak and pitiful that it pulled at Leo's heartstrings. He hated it when Donnie made him do this. "I warned you, Don. You know better than to ignore my warnings."

"I didn't think you were serious," the sick turtle replied in a voice that fell quieter with every word. Leo gently coaxed him to lie down again and began to bathe the back of his fevered head with the damp washcloth.

"Shush… just rest for now Donnie. We can discuss this later. Just go back to sleep." Honestly, Leo didn't like the fact that he had actually wrestled his sick brother into bed and tied him to the frame. He knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it from Master Splinter and Mikey was going to have a load of new jokes about tying people up. Some of which would probably not be considered 'G' rated and would earn him a whap over the head from Raphael who would be about he only person who would possible agree with Leo's actions. Leo had heard Raph threaten Don with a similar threat earlier in the week.

Donatello couldn't help but relax into the soft mattress below him. The cold cloth just felt so good… yet there was something wrong. His mind sluggishly sought out the answer despite his body's attempts at falling asleep. When he realized what he had said to his brother he was nearly asleep. He struggled to wake again, even if only enough to take back what he had said only moments ago. "I love you…"

Leo smiled at that response as Don slipped into a dreamless sleep. It had been almost a week since his younger brother had come down with the flu. Don was by far one of the worst patients' ever (far worst then himself in his opinion) and had a bad tendency of being short tempered, a completely three sixty from his usual personality. With his temper flaring the turtle would turn his ire on half finished projects lying around his workshop, using precious energy that he should be using to get better to get rid of his frustrations. It made taking care of him a pain in the shell as Don was constantly found out of bed and in the workshop trying to do something with only half the needed senses collected to try and do the task he was set out to try and do. Leo nearly had three ulcers in the past week coming in on Don trying to defy Murphy's law and gravity in an attempt to fix the Battleshell's chassis where it had been cracked in an off-road exploit that failed to come to past as hoped.

_And despite everything you put me through…_ "I love you too, Donnie." Leo whispered careful not to wake the sleeping turtle as he returned to his meditation. The night was still young and Leo knew that Don would wake again only for this process to repeat itself. As far as Leo was concerned it could repeat as many times as it wanted and he would do whatever it took to make sure Don got better. And when he would get sick again, Leo would be the vigilant older brother and make sure Don rested.

Even if he had to tie him to the bed again.


End file.
